Musings of a dyer and fiber artist from Lord of the Rings and Narnia country, the South Island of New Zealand.

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Day 17 - where I take on Amy Butler and cure a bad case of Wavy Borders

For those who are not quilters, Amy Butler is a well-known American fabric designer. Several years ago, I bought some Rowan fabrics from the local quilt shop, and as I normally do, I dyed some fabric to go with them. Usually I dye in single colours, but these were multis. Here they are together:

Now, what to do with them? Looking for some fast inspiration, I decided to use someone else's ideas. I've always loved circles inside squares, and I came across this free Amy Butler pattern called "Belle", designed around her fabric range of the same name.

Oh dear, Amy, you may be famous but you're not Kaffe Fassett. I really don't think these fabrics work well together. Aha, I hear you saying, do you think you can do better? Well, yes, I do. I won't even comment on the pattern's corner blocks which were simply rectangles that you "cut down to size". They created the worst case of Wavy Borders that I've seen for a long time. I had to unpick both my original borders, measure, nip and tuck and redo the whole outside. The new border still looks somewhat wavy but will be ok when quilted.

You'll see that I've added in some acid yellow fabric as well. I think this is much better than the original, but feel free to disagree. If you love Amy's version, leave me a comment with what you like about it.

5 comments:

Honestly, I've never been a big fan of Kaffe Fassett quilts. Few of them look anything but a mess to me. And that particularly Amy Butler quilt is an even bigger mess. Looks like it was put together by a true beginner working out of the leftovers from making clothes for herself. I can say that because I made a few such quilts that bad when I first started out. Why, one can't even TELL what's going on with the pattern.

But you saved it for sure. Your version is sophisticated, modern and holds one's interest. What a shame that you had to fight the waves around the outside.

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About Me

My children think I've become a hippy. My mother can't imagine why people would pay me to teach them to quilt and dye fabric. She thinks I like making bedspreads. I'm a dyer and fibre artist, living with 2 Standard Poodles and 2 cockatiels. I' currently live in New Zealand's Victorian town and steampunk capital, Oamaru. I'm a member of TOTE, The Oamaru Textile Emporium.